


Unwavering

by Sodokachi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Family, Gabriel Appreciation Week, Gen, ml spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-07 15:59:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13438248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sodokachi/pseuds/Sodokachi
Summary: In the absence of any hope Gabriel makes a life changing choice. Will it lead to regaining what was lost?





	1. Chapter 1

Gabriel sat in his office, his face barely illuminated. What could be seen of it was gaunt, stern. Yet, even with this exhaustion he was immaculately kept, his tie not even a centimeter out of place.

The flimsy amount of light leaking in from his shaded windows was the only light the room had. The sound of his own breathing was particularly loud in the dreary quiet and he would have been more annoyed by it, if he wasn’t so lost in his thoughts.

He opened his locket, something his wife had gotten him for their first anniversary, for what had to be the hundredth time that day. He ran his thumb gently over the picture inside and his face softened slightly.

“What am I going to do without you?” he said forlornly.

A knock sounded on his door and he sighed slightly before putting away the locket and schooling his face. “Yes? What is it?”

His assistant, Nathalie, opened the door. Light shined in through the opening. He refused to squint. “Sir, your dinner is ready and Adrien is waiting for you.”

He frowned. “I am busy.”

She looked at his empty desk, glanced around at the lack of light, and then straightened her glasses. “Of course, sir. However, it is Father’s Day and Adrien is waiting for you.”

He blinked. “Oh. Yes, of course it is. Inform him I’ll be down in a moment.”

She gazed at him for a moment and then smiled politely. “Yes, sir,” she said and shut the door.

He sighed and glanced down at his locket one last time. He glanced around the office and then stood. He put the locket in his pocket and started towards the dining room.

On the way there he stopped at the large family painting in the foyer and his fists clenched at his side. His wife was smiling, on hand on his arm and the other sitting lightly on top of Adrien’s shoulder. It was a picture that in the past he had been greatly proud of… but now it only brought pain.

He brought up a fist as though to punch the painting, only just stopping himself before he did. He instead unclenched his hand and laid it on the painting.

“I’m sorry, dear.” he whispered.

With that said, his hand slipped back down to his side and he continued down the stairs and entered the dining room.

The first thing he saw upon entering was Adrien sitting at the end of the table, downtrodden. He could see the evidence of his son’s attempt at hiding the red around his eyes. He felt something twinge in his chest at the sight of his slumped shoulders and tired disposition.

_Failure._

“Happy Father’s Day,” Adrien said softly, before pushing his hand forward on the table. Under it lay a small gift wrapped in green paper with a small yellow bow on top. The colors were not lost on him.

He walked towards his son while speaking. “Good evening, Adrien. Are you doing well in your studies?”

It was a nothing question, serving no other purpose than to give Adrien a chance to speak while he opened his gift, but instead of speaking his son’s eyes dimmed and he turned away. Gabriel frowned and reached down towards the present. Instead of taking it, he let his hand rest on Adrien’s. His eyes darted back to Gabriel’s.

“Adrien?”

“I’m doing well,” he said suddenly, pulling his hand away. “My Chinese teacher said I am making excellent strides and my other tutors have had no complaints.”

He deliberately waited a moment before picking up the present. As he unwrapped the bow he watched Adrien carefully out of the corner of his eye. “Do _you_ have any complaints?” he asked dryly.

Adrien looked surprised. “I’ve, I’ve been thinking…” Gabriel waited for him to continue and after a moment of hesitation he did. “Would it not be too terrible for me to attend school next year?”

Gabriel finished unwrapping the gift and blinked at it in surprise. It was a small childishly drawn picture of their family, his wife included, that he could fondly remember his wife keeping in her boudoir. And Adrien had framed it for him.

“That is a conversation for another time,” he said without looking away from the picture. It brought up to many memories to count.

Adrien closed his eyes for a moment. He took a deep breath and reopened them. “Did you like it? Mo-mom-she suggested that it might be a good gift,” his voice got progressively quieter as he spoke.

“She did?” he asked softly, getting a slight nod in return. “I will treasure it,” he promised.

Adrien smiled at that and for the first time Gabriel was truly struck with how much he looked like his mother. People had commented on it before, but he had never truly understood until he no longer had on to compare to the other.

He was made aware of Nathalie’s entrance by her lightly clearing her throat. “Sir, do you wish to have dinner now?”

A small smile crossed his face. “Yes, bring it in.”

Maybe he could do this after all.


	2. Chapter 2

_He definitely couldn’t do this,_ he thought as he paced the length of his office. His hands were tightly clasped behind his back.

In his time as Adrien’s father, he had never had to deal with anything like what he’d had to do today. There was nothing that could have prepared him for the raw emotion that was Adrien breaking down. It wasn’t like there had been any warning signs either.

It had seemed as though Adrien had been handling everything exceedingly well, so well, in fact, that Gabriel had been able to focus almost entirely on his investigation into his wife’s… _disappearance_.

He had known Adrien could be incredibly good at hiding how he really felt, but he hadn’t realized that it would extend to being able to fool even _him_. It was a ridiculous thought in the first place.

He growled to himself. He had not planned for an upset Adrien. Lord knows he had no clue how to handle his wife when she got upset, much less his son.

“Sir.”

Gabriel stopped pacing and slowly turned his head to stare at his assistant. She was badly hiding her amusement. No doubt at his reaction to her sneaking up on him.

“When did you-”

Nathalie cut him off. “A few minutes ago, sir. A package arrived for you.”

He straitened himself out. “This is highly inappropriate. What could possibly be so important?”

She held it out for him to take and he reached out to take it, a slightly irritated look on his face, only for him to freeze when he saw the label.

_Tibet_

“I see,” he slowly took it from her. “Thank you. If you would give me a moment?”

She nodded and turned to leave. He frowned down at the package before calling out to her. “If you could, if it’s no trouble…”

A flicker of a smile crossed her placid expression and she nodded. “I will check on him.”

He bowed his head ever so slightly in thanks. He waited for her to leave before sitting down at his desk, he felt both light and heavy at the same time. The answer to his problems, to _Adrien’s_ problems was most likely in his grasp.

He slid open the box.

“They always did say a pen was mightier than any blade,” he said as he slid a book out of the packaging. “And here I always thought they were speaking rubbish.”

He opened the tome and slowly dragged his fingers over the ancient letters within. “ _Herein lies the secrets of the Miraculous. Guard them well_ ,” Gabriel chuckled. “Oh, I will.”

He considered the length of the book for a moment. “It is a good thing I am a patient man.”

Several hours of reading passed somewhat uneventfully. He only knew it had been several hours by how loud and _annoying_ he was starting to find that grandfather clock in the corner of the room.

“Where is it?” he murmured darkly. “The legend has to be in here somewhere. I will not tolerate another failure.”

His eyes blurred slightly; he had been reading late into the night as it was and the ancient symbols that he just barely knew how to read were not helping.

_There exist two-_

“Could it be…” he leaned in closer.

 _Miraculous unlike any other,_ he quickly skipped forward. _Wielded together, they give absolute power._

“Yes!” he laughed. “ _Finally_.”

He quickly scanned the page for more information. “Creation and destruction. The Ladybug and the Black Cat. Now, how do I obtain them?”

A few minutes of searching turned up no answer and he had to stop himself from throwing the book the ground. “What use is this _thing_ then! I have searched far too long to be stopped here.”

He glanced at the painting of his wife in the center back wall of the room. “Maybe it would be possible to draw them out…” he shook his head and dropped it into his palm. “No. That would be going too far,” he blinked tiredly at his wife’s portrait. “Right?”

She didn’t answer. A knock, however, did sound from his office door.

“Ye-” he cleared his gravely throat. “Yes?”

“Father? May I speak with you?” Adrien’s muffled voice came through the door.

Gabriel nodded.

…

…

“…Father?”

He blinked when he realized he hadn’t spoken. Perhaps he was more tired than he thought. “Yes, of course. You may enter.”

Adrien entered slowly and Gabriel was struck, even with how exhausted he himself was, with how _haggard_ his son’s appearance was. There were bags under his eyes, it looked like he had also been rubbing at them if the red splotched were anything to go by, he was slouching, and his clothes were wrinkled!

“Adrien?” he asked hesitantly. “You look unwell.”

Adrien look away. “Sorry.”

Gabriel’s brow furrowed. “It’s… alright,” he probably looked just as bad. “What did you need to speak with me about?”

“Do you…” he swallowed and then looked his father straight in the eye. “Do you know if she’s coming back?”

Adrien did his best to hold back his tears as his father closed his tired eyes for a moment to consider his words. “I do not know Adrien,” he winced as his son failed to hold back some of his tears, it was made even worse by his son’s refusal to look away. “But, I promise you I will do _everything_ in my power to find out.”

Adrien searched his eyes for a moment before slowly nodding. “Good. Now, I believe-” Gabriel stopped speaking as his son’s arms wrapped around him. He sighed and hugged back. “Your mother would be having a field day with all this hugging. She loved to get pictures of us.”

Adrien let out a wobbly chuckle into his suit jacket and Gabriel smiled for a breath. They both let go. “I think you should take the day off. Have Nathalie arrange something fun.”

Adrien looked at him in surprise and then a brilliant smile lit up his face. “Thank you, Father.”

A few moments later and Gabriel was once again alone with his thoughts. He turned and walked over to the painting from earlier. He quickly pulled it down, revealing the safe hidden behind it. Once opened he pulled out a small brooch.

“Sacrifices have to be made if my promise is to be kept,” he said ominously.


	3. Chapter 3

Hawkmoth stood, cane in hand, in a utility closet. Despite being in a closet, he stood tall while radiating an aura of detachment. He was also covered in syrup, which was mildly unpleasant.

He glared at the door until a cloud of ladybugs flew under it and removed the sticky stuff from him.

“This has been a less than adequate day,” Gabriel muttered as he shut the door behind him. Perhaps a bit too forcefully if the looks he was getting were any indication.

He glared at the surrounding crowd. “I believe all of you have work to do,” he phrased it as a question, but from his tone it was obvious that he was not asking.

Seeing them quickly get back to work made him sigh. At least not everything had been a total failure. He had learned something very important. Even though he was in New York for fashion week, Ladybug had still shown up to stop him.

Interestingly enough, Chat Noir did not show up. Somehow that made him worry. How did Ladybug know to be here and Chat Noir didn’t? Was she on his trail? Was she on his staff? Had she just blown her cover to stop him?

It made him worried. He had thought that becoming The Collector would dramatically throw them off, but if it hadn’t…

He would need to do something about it.

“…Father?” Adrien asked. At some point he must have shown up without Gabriel realizing it. He had been far too distracted.

“Are you alright? You looked a little…?” Adrien grimaced.

Gabriel studied his son. He was pale and clutching at his bag, maybe he should have held off on the akuma considering his son had been dealing with his first out of country fashion week. Although, it did have syrup powers. How could his son be so freaked out over a syrup akuma?

“I am fine, Adrien. You look pale, did the akuma spook you?” Gabriel watched as his son became a bit paler.

“No, I mean, yeah the akuma really messed with me,” Adrien laughed nervously, confusing him further.

“Will you still be able to do the catwalk?”

Adrien blinked. “Yeah! Of course.”

“Good,” he nodded in satisfaction. “Try not to think of syrup,” he added dryly.

Adrien choked. “Yeah, no, I’ll try not to.”

He watched his son leave and found himself frowning. That was odd even by his son’s standards. He could only wonder what got him so riled up.

He shook his head. He had more important things to worry about, like where Chat Noir had disappeared to. It wasn’t like him to let Ladybug fight it alone. Was he still in Paris? Or…

“Could he have been searching for me?” he frowned darkly. Perhaps it was time he escalated. He couldn’t chance them finding him before he got their Miraculous.


	4. Chapter 4

“Dear?”

Gabriel blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked towards the speaker.

“I need you to watch Adrien today, remember?”

“Yes, I remember. Are you going to be alright today?” he asked, a little bit of concern leaking into his voice.

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and winked at him. “You worry too much, dear. I’ll be careful.”

He watched her leave and slowly shook his head. “You’re never careful,” he muttered to himself.

He got up and got ready for his day. He frowned as he put on his new suit and tie. “It’s going to take a while to get used to this,” he tsked at the fancy jacket. “Image is everything,” he glanced around his bedroom. “Even at home apparently.”

He walked towards his son’s room, his dress shoes making sharp clacks against the floor in the absence of any other noise. It was a wonder then, that Adrien wasn’t awake when he opened his son’s door.

It was a well-known fact that Gabriel Agreste did not smile, so it would have been quite the shock for most to see him walk over to his sleeping son with a soft smile.

He sat down on the bed next to his son. “Wake up now, Adrien. I am in charge today,” Adrien didn’t stir. Gabriel reached out and ran a hand through his son’s soft golden hair.

“ _Adrien_ ,” he whispered, before flicking his son lightly in the middle of his forehead.

Adrien threw his hands to his head and whined slightly. “ _Daaad_ , stoppit!”

He smothered his smile and gave his son his best _I’m totally innocent_ look. Which for Gabriel was more of a _I totally did it_ look. “What? Is there something wrong with your head, Adrien?”

Adrien pouted. “You thicked it.”

“I did no such thing,” Gabriel smiled inwardly, there was no such thing as thicking. “If you are done accusing me, it _is_ time to get up and your mother would be cross with me if we waited until eleven to have breakfast.”

Adrien stuck out his tongue at him, but did get out of bed quickly, or at least tried to. His legs got tangles in the sheets and instead of standing tall he ended up with his face smushed to the floor.

Gabriel quietly wished he had a camera so he could record Adrien struggling with the blanket for a good minute before finally getting free.

“What are we waiting for? To the kitchen!” Adrien cheered.

He ran out of the room, causing Gabriel to sigh and shake his head. “3, 2, 1…”

Adrien popped back into the room. “Forgot to get dressed!”

Gabriel just let out a soft chuckle.


	5. Chapter 5

Gabriel knocked on the door to his son’s room and waited patiently for him to answer. It was the first day off in a long while that he’d decided to spend time with his son, as opposed to using the time on his… _interests._ So, he was quite excited, or at least as excited as he got these days.

Adrien opened the door. He was mostly wearing his regular outfit, with the exception of a small charm tied to one of his belt loops. Gabriel filed that under possible conversation topics before going to greet him.

“Good morning, Adrien.”

Adrien looked confused. “Good morning, Father. Do you need something?”

“I am taking the day off today, would you like to join me for brunch?”

“You’re… asking me? I mean, of course, Father. Are we leaving now?”

Gabriel nodded. “If you are not preoccupied…?”

“No… we can leave now,” Adrien nodded. “Lead the way.”

The car ride was silent, though not for Gabriel’s lack of trying. Adrien had spent the entire journey doing his best to ignore his Father’s presence. It was very out of the ordinary for him to do so and it was making Gabriel a little nervous. He always had trouble when Adrien acted out in new ways.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the restaurant and they were soon seated in a comfortable, somewhat private, outdoor pavilion. He quickly ordered some tea to start with and waited for it to arrive before continuing in his attempts to get his son to talk.

Gabriel didn’t want the silence to continue, and he was getting desperate, so he did his best to smile politely and then plowed forward into teenage waters. “Has anyone caught your eye yet?”

Adrien looked up from his phone and blinked a couple times. “What?” he asked.

“A girl,” he paused to take a sip of his tea. “Have you met one you fancy yet?”

Adrien slowly put down his phone, it was slowly dawning on him that his father was serious. “A girl?” he choked slightly. “Where would I have met a girl?”

Gabriel looked at him oddly. “…At school? Part of your argument for attending was meeting new people yes? So, I wish to know if you’ve found anyone you want to pursue, in a romantic nature.”

Adrien nodded. “Right, school. Nope! I’ve met no one at school at all. No girls of any interest there!”

Gabriel raised one cultured brow. “…I see. I don’t approve of that Nino boy you realize?”

Adrien stared at him. “I’m not… I’m. What?”

“Not him either then? Good,” he took another sip.

Adrien didn’t say anything, instead he did his best to imitate a carp. Gabriel mused that he really needed to get his son some acting lessons soon. His carp impression was embarrassing.

He sighed when the silence went on too long. “Is that charm from this non-existent beau of yours?”

Adrien snapped out of his stupor and quickly decided to ignore everything that had been said thus far. “It’s from a friend of mine. Marinette Dupain-cheng? I’m sure you remember her,” he frowned. “She’s quite talented after all,” he added quietly.

Gabriel gave him his most nonplussed look. “Just a friend then?”

Adrien groaned and slumped down into his seat. “Why does everyone keep asking that? Can’t we just talk about something else? Like Hawkmoth or some other grand evil? Anything but my love life.”

“I believe the reason why everyone is asking is obvious. At least, to the ones asking anyway,” he paused. “You consider Hawkmoth to be a ‘grand evil’?” Gabriel smirked slightly.

Adrien frowned seriously and sat up straight. “You don’t agree?”

Gabriel chuckled. “He is _quite_ the villain isn’t he?”

Before Adrien could ask anything further they had to pause as their waiter had returned with their food. Neither spoke as they took their first bites. It was already midmorning after all and the two of them were starving.

“What do you think of him, Hawkmoth that is?” Adrien asked suddenly, his hand slightly tightening around his fork.

Gabriel finished chewing before answering. “He _is_ quite the villain, taking control of people in an attempt to gain power. I wonder what he needs it for.”

Adrien stabbed his crepe with his fork. “What does that matter?” he asked with a frown. “He’s still hurting people; no matter his reasons.”

Gabriel nodded. “That’s true, but for some people the end justifies the means, Adrien.”

“You-I can’t believe that,” Adrien turned and frowned, he stared at the Eiffel Tower in the distance. “What could possibly be worth it?”

Gabriel followed him and looking at it. “Paris is worthy of protecting,” he agreed. “But if there was something worth more to you than anything else in the world, what wouldn’t you be willing to do for that?”

Adrien didn’t look away from the tower. “I can’t imagine anything that would make me turn against innocent people.”

Gabriel smiled bitterly. “You’re just like your mother.”

Adrien turned towards him, surprise written on his face. “What?”

“You care about people just as much as she did. I think she would be quite proud of that, of you.”

Adrien’s face cracked. “Father…”

They sat in silence after that. Gabriel’s words leaving a silence that neither wanted to break. As they headed home after finishing their food, Gabriel couldn’t help but wonder if he’d put off conversation with his son too long. Just another reason on his long list of reasons on why he needed to be quicker in returning his mother to him.


	6. Chapter 6

_ring ring_

Nathalie looked up from her work and frowned at her phone. Usually when she worked this late she didn’t get any phone calls, which was one of the primary reasons she liked working past ten.

_ring ring_

She sighed and reached for it. She didn’t bother glancing at the caller id as she hit the talk button. “Yes, this is Gabriel Agreste’s secretary, how may I help you on this _fine_ Friday _evening?_ ”

“This is Nathalie Sancoeur?”

She held back another sigh. “Yes.”

“Mr. Agreste wishes for you to pick him up at the airport. Immediately.”

Nathalie blinked, Gabriel wasn’t due back for at least another week. At least this meant Adrien would finally be taken off her hands. Heaven knows she had no idea how to take care of him.

“Alright,” she answered, never breaking her normal, stoic demeanor. “I’ll be right there. May I ask why they’re back so soon?”

Several seconds of silence followed and Nathalie was just about to assume they’d hung up when the person spoke up.

“Well, um, maybe you should just ask him yourself,” Nathalie frowned at the hesitance she heard.

“Very well. Tell him I will arrive soon. Goodbye.”

“Wait, maybe-”

Nathalie hung up and then let herself sigh again. She really deserved a raise. Especially since she would have to drive herself since the Agreste’s drive had already gone home.

It didn’t take her long to drive to the airport, park and find where she was supposed to meet him. Which was just as well, it was already approaching midnight and while she didn’t mind staying up this late she would prefer it being to enjoy a glass of wine and a book, not picking up her boss and his wife from the airport.

Her… very disheveled boss, sans wife.

His hair was out of place, his face was covered in grime and dirt, and it looked like he’d decided on to sleep for at least a week.

He wasn’t even wearing his usual suit for Pete’s sake! It looked like he was wearing some old jeans and a dress shirt, if you could get past the dirt it was all covered in.

“Sir, I’m here to pick you up,” she said, smoothly ignoring all the oddities.

He looked at her and he looked absolutely miserable. She had never seen him so much as frown in sadness and now he looked like someone had stolen his favorite suit jacket, although even she doubted that was the reason for his misery.

She walked up closer to him. “Sir, we need to-” she was cut off by him wrapping his arms around her in a desperate hug.

She looked down at the man now burying his head in her collar. He was shaking. Gabriel flipping Agreste was _hugging_ her while _shaking_ and _what in the heck had happened?!_

She awkwardly patted him on the back. “Err, are you alright? Sir?”

He stopped shaking and slowly stood back up. He went to straighten his tie, before remembering that he wasn’t wearing one. Without saying anything he started towards the parking lot. Nathalie quickly followed after him.

“Sir, with all due respect, what in the world happened?” she frowned when he ignored her. She quickly marched ahead of him before turning around in front of him and sticking her finger to his chest to stop him.

“What happened?” she demanded.

“She’s gone,” he said flatly and then carefully moved her out of the way by using his hand to guider her by her shoulder.

“She? You mean your wife?” Nathalie gaped at his back. “What do you mean she’s gone? You, what happened Gabriel, seriously!”

He paused and turned to her, his gaze dark. “I’ll explain once we get back, but for now. My wife is gone and you are going to help me see if there’s anything I can do to get her back. Is that enough?”

Nathalie considered him for a moment before nodding. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Lets go.”


	7. Chapter 7

Hawkmoth cursed Ladybug and Chat Noir for what felt like the hundredth time. It might have actually been getting close to that number with how many failures he’d had lately. The newest failed akuma flew into the room, once again mingling with its brothers and sisters. He had to stop himself from cursing it as well.

A distant yell distracted him from his rumination and before he could as much as wonder where it came from, the glass above him melted into black. Only one person could destroy like that. He came through the now black glass and landed before him. The glass seemed to now have the consistency of wet sand and fell to the floor around the boy in the same manner.

“ _Chat Noir_ … what a pleasure to meet you in person,” he spoke calmly, but his hand was clenched tightly around his cane and his body was angled towards the secret exit in the floor behind him.

Chat Noir looked at him, he looked almost dazed and his hands kept curling into fists before relaxing and the curling up again. “Unfortunately, we’ve met before.”

Hawkmoth squeezed his cane tighter. “Oh? I feel like I would have remembered meeting such a character.”

“Yeah,” Chat pulled his baton from out behind his back and extended it. “Funny isn’t it, _Gabriel._ ”

Hawkmoth sighed. “Activate security measures.”

Chat’s eyes widened as the walls opened to all matter of missiles. “If you were going to deny it, those really don’t help your case,” he said weakly.

“We’re in my house,” Hawkmoth said flatly. “I’m not a child. I’m not going to hold onto such a ridiculous hope.”

“The way you’re speaking is the real proof,” Chat grumbled. He tightened his grip on his baton. “I’d like a question answered before I take that Miraculous from you.”

Hawkmoth chuckled. “You mean before I take yours? Very well.”

“Why did you do all this?”

“Why do I need the Miraculous?” he shook his head slowly. “Did you know my wife is missing, Chat Noir? Did you know what the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous can do together?”

Chat shook his head slowly. “I assumed it might be something like that. Do you think your wife would want you to do this?”

Hawkmoth scoffed. “That’s irrelevant.”

“What?!” Chat snapped. “How in the world can you say that’s irrelevant? She’ll be furious even if you use them to get her back. You’ll have no good answer about how you got them!”

Hawkmoth sighed loudly, as though he was suffering from Chat’s ignorance. “I’m not doing it for her sake.”

Chat Noir shook his head violently. “Are you that selfish?”

“Is it selfish to want the best for your son? If so, yes, I will be the most selfish man alive if I have to be,” Hawkmoth declared, swinging his cane for emphasis.

_Clang_

Chat’s baton hit the floor, causing Hawkmoth to look at him oddly. “You’re doing this for m-for _Adrien_?”

“Why is that so surprising?” Hawkmoth asked. Chat look stricken with the knowledge and Hawkmoth was left wondering why. “If nothing else, I will do it for him,” he continued. “I may not be the best father, but if it’s in my power I will do anything for him.”

“Th-that’s,” Chat stuttered. “You can’t be serious!” he frowned. “I never wanted… I just wanted you to…”

Hawkmoth looked even more confused. “You wanted? What do you have to do with this? This is about the Miraculous and returning his mother to him. Now if you don’t mind, or even if you do, I’m going to take it from you!”

With that said, Hawkmoth drew his blade from his cane-sheath and ran towards Chat. Chat stared at him as he got closer.

“Wait!” Chat threw his arms out in front of him gestured for him to stop. “How do you know this is what your son wants?!”

Hawkmoth stabbed forward with his blade, but stopped when the tip of his blade was touching Chat’s chest. “I know what he _needs_. Now hand the Black Cat Miraculous over, Chat Noir.”

Chat’s eyes darkened. “Fine,” he said quietly. He calmly reached for his ring before slipping it off his finger and holding it out for Hawkmoth to take.

This time it was Hawkmoth’s turn to drop his weapon and back away with a horrified look on his face. “ _You_ …”

Adrien didn’t smile. “ _Me._ ”

“All along you were fighting against me,” Hawkmoth dropped to his knees. “I was practically trying to _kill_ you.”

Adrien watched his father break down and tried to keep his composure. “I’m surprised you didn’t realize it was me. I thought you figured it out after seeing my ring.”

“I convinced myself that it couldn’t be you,” he said morosely. “With what I had tried to do, with what I had done, how could I believe it was you. God…”

Hawkmoth detransformed then, leaving nothing but an anguished Gabriel Agreste behind. Nooroo hovered over his master, shocked to see Gabriel in such a vulnerable state.

At seeing his father Adrien finally lost his composure and tears started sliding down his slowly reddening cheeks, although it didn’t seem like he even noticed them. “You didn’t need to do any of this! I just wanted…” he sniffed.

Gabriel looked up and flinched when he saw his son crying. “You just wanted…?”

“I wanted you to be there for me. I wanted you to talk to me. I didn’t want you to hurt innocent people no matter the reason,” he paused and wiped away his tears with his arm. “I wanted you to be my father.”

Gabriel bowed his head and slowly reached for his pin. “I failed you then,” he held it out. “I won’t even bother you with some inane apology. Please take this from me so that I don’t get any more ideas.”

Nooroo vanished as Adrien reached out and took it. He turned it over in his hands, only now realizing they were shaking slightly. He pocketed it and slowly put back on his ring.

“Should I turn myself in?” Gabriel asked quietly.

“That would probably be for the best,” Adrien replied. “Claw’s out.”

He transformed and turned to leave, only pausing as soon as his baton was ready to push him out of the hidden room. “Goodbye, Father,” he extended his baton and left.

Gabriel now sat by himself in the darkened, quiet room. “Goodbye, my son, _Adrien_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well! That was a fun week! Sorry if this chapter is way too heavy handed haha


End file.
